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How Indonesia is trying to avoid the pitfalls of Belt and Road cooperation
Indonesia must carefully navigate the complexity of issues that often come with Chinese cooperation. How does it avoid the mistakes that other countries have made?
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Closer ties: Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan (second left) talks with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang (second right) on the sidelines of the Belt and Road Trade and Investment Forum in Beijing on April 12. (Courtesy of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs Ministry/File)
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t the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing in April this year, Indonesia took its first careful steps toward embracing the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Indonesia when President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo announced 30 projects worth US$91.1billion for Chinese “Belt and Road” investment. Since then, it has become clear that Indonesia is attempting to define clearly what the BRI means in Indonesia, and which projects fall under the umbrella of the initiative.
But apart from clarifying what is and is not in China’s 21st century Silk Road, Indonesia is also hoping to avoid certain pitfalls that have become synonymous with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s flagship program.
“We learned from other countries' – especially Asian countries’ – experience in difficulties when they deal with the Belt and Road Initiative,” Atmadji Sumarkidjo, an expert staffer to the coordinating maritime affairs minister, told The Jakarta Post. “So we’ve proposed that it should not only be BRI but also the Global Maritime Fulcrum of Pak Joko Widodo. The Chinese agreed to our preconditions if they want investment in any kind of project here in Indonesia.”
What difficulties is Indonesia trying to avoid?
The government is well-aware of accusations that the BRI is a "debt-trap" designed to entice developing countries into accepting loans that would tether their country to China and Chinese labor.
In Malaysia, a multibillion dollar railway launched in 2017 was scrapped by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad after he was elected because it was too costly, and only resumed after China agreed to a reduced price tag. And in Sri Lanka, a debt-ridden government handed over ownership of the China-funded Hambantota Port to a Chinese company for 99 years.
Furthermore, observers have noted that the BRI allows China to offload surplus goods and labor to other countries.
